Thanks to the 455 people who responded to the Events Survey we conducted recently. In general, the responses were very positive and lots of good ideas were suggested which we hope to incorporate in the planning of future events. See also the blog Unlock the Past events - past events, a review and the future.

Unlock the Past has organised a number of special events since early 2010. Here we combine a review of these with the feedback from our recent Unlock the Past Major Events Survey to give you an overview of how they have gone and what we may consider in future. A copy of this blog can also be downloaded as a PDF file. This post is fairly long.

Last year Unlock the Past held two History & Genealogy Expos around Australia. This year we’re holding four, this means we get to see many more of you around this big country. All who pre-book by the Monday before each Expo will get into the Expo FREE. This will increase the number attending and your exposure. A modest charge will apply to those who come on the day. Every attendee gets a Registration Kit.

A history & genealogy cruise is a chance to combine both a top class history & genealogy conference with a relaxing cruise. In March 2011 we held our inaugural cruise with around 240 booked. The response to this has been very positive over all.

I currently follow a blog called ArchivesNext and whilst it's American it can have some very interesting posts. One such post was 'What tools are essential for you?' Followers were asked what web tools/sites/apps they use everyday, and which ones are essential to their working/social lives. The blog gained some good (and numerous!) responses, mostly from archivists, but no doubt there were others putting in their two-cents worth as well.

Here are the results of our 26th Unlock the Past poll - What Irish counties do you have ancestors from - or research interests in? Votes were cast by 374 people. The results are summarised in the table below.

2011 is now upon us. We want to consolidate following a very busy and formative 2010 for Unlock the Past (UTP). In many ways we were pioneering with a number of new and innovative ventures. We have gained more experience, new skills, knowledge etc. to make 2011 better again.